


A Little Trouble

by PepperCat



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Commentary, Gen, Guns, Home Invasion, Hostage Situations, Kidnapping, being a fan is complicated, but this has been in my head for a while, in that I feel that I am calling myself out on the problematic aspects of fannishness, lacks resolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-14 13:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15390210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperCat/pseuds/PepperCat
Summary: Some people you just never expect to meet in real life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this one, in terms of theme, but I have the plot and I know what's going to happen and it's in my head, so I'm writing it down.

There was a heist today and if Trish hadn't been stuck at work into the afternoon she'd have actually been waiting to catch a bus in front of the bank and she _might have actually seen them_ so she's tired and mad because she missed that, and now all she can find out is that there's a bunch of pictures of SWAT-type guys in camo around the bank and the Rogues have cleared out and it just-- it sucks, okay? It wouldn't matter if they'd hit somewhere else, but she _could_ have seen something cool and she can't help but get mad over it.

Houston gets it, and he's sweet about it even if she's still mad, so he suggests going to grab an early dinner at the bar where Nena will let them switch the channel to the news for a bit. That way they can at least go out and get something to eat while they wait for the Trickster to start posting stuff again, and they might see something. (Picture News is pretty crap, but CCN will show security footage if they get it.)

Trish goes to change because it _does_ help with her mood and she's picking earrings when she hears someone knocking on the door, hears Houston ask her to get it, feels the acid flare of irritation when she says _just a minute_ and he calls back _never mind_ , if he was going to get it himself why would he ask her?

She steps up to the living room doorway as Houston's opening the door and then backing away and there's a second of thinking it's a joke, right? A friend of theirs who thinks her hobby geekery celebrity crush what _ever_ is cute or funny or or or--

The gun is just a gun. The clothes are right but Trish knows at least one person in Central who's got copies that good. But she's never seen anyone who can _really_ fake that grin.

The door's still open. He's coming in. Trish has a breath in her lungs all ready to scream something but she doesn't get anything out. There's the gun pointing at Houston. She doesn't want the gun to fire. She wants everything to stop but it's all still moving. And then the Trickster's standing there in their lousy little apartment shutting the door behind him.

"Oh _hel_ lo," loud in her ears, glances her way as he reaches out and hooks Houston's glasses off his nose. "Get me your phones and anyone else in here and we can go from there, what do you say?" And he laughs a little, high and sharp.

Trish has both her hands over her mouth. Screaming seems like a bad idea. Houston is handing over his phone and lifting his hands and trying to casually move between her and the Trickster as he backs away, which is sweet.

She's not mad about the whole answering-the-door thing anymore.

"There's no-one else here," Houston's saying.

"Her phone too." The Trickster reaches behind himself and locks the door, she can hear it snick shut, and keeps moving forward. Houston is backing towards her and she takes a step forward, thinks for a second about hooking the change jar off the bookshelf and throwing it. It's heavy. Ish.

"Trish," Houston says in an extra-careful voice like when she's having a _really_ bad day and he gets worried because she's maybe not being reasonable, and she doesn't reach for it.

Because, you know. The gun.

"Mine's on the table," she says. Comes out all soft from behind her hands. She steps sideways and picks it up, holds it out, and Houston takes it from her to pass it over. He's still trying to stand between them, looking everywhere, back at her and at the Trickster and past him and--

"Ah-ah, focus." The Trickster's voice really does have that lilting little sound in the back of his throat. He's got Houston's glasses on and he's pulling them off with a frown. "Hey, speaking of focus, why are you even wearing these? They don't _do_ any--"

It feels wrong when the Trickster goes quiet. Trish has seen pictures without sound, but he's always talking in video clips. Even in security footage where there's no sound, he's talking.

He cocks his head a little to one side and considers them--Houston in flat black with his hoodie but no boots on yet, no longer with his glasses, and Trish in a yellow-and-indigo plaid skirt, Misfits T-shirt with white checks hand-painted around the logo, spike bracelets.

He takes two very fast loping steps forward, shoving Houston aside with the hand that has the gun in it, and tilts her chin up with his other hand. She can feel Houston's glasses poking into her throat.

He's not looking into her eyes, exactly. He's looking at her makeup, dark blue eyeliner with an inner and outer wing and a little dot below, right in the middle. Not a real diamond shape, but as close as you can get in public without getting grief. He turns her head a little, flicks one of her earrings. She can feel the bullet casing bounce and dangle.

"Oh," and it's almost a purr. "Oh, I _like_ you. Trish? That's what he said?" His grin widens. "Trish, Trish, _Patricia_ , right? Are you a Patsy, or a Trixie? Be a Trixie, okay?"

She sees Houston move out of the corner of her eye, maybe just straightening up, and the Trickster spins hard and is close behind her; the hand holding Houston's glasses is reaching across the front of her shoulders and the gun is in the softness just below her jaw. The spikes on his coat are digging into her shoulder and back. "Be nice," he says warningly, and then "Pipes, you have _got_ to see this. Come on. Open the window."

There's a moment of silence. No-one moves. He huffs out a sigh.

"You've got a fire escape," he says. "Open. The goddamn. Window." He taps the side of Trish's throat with the gun. "Quiet now."

Houston blinks and then turns and heads for the window, fast and unsteady. Trish hears a mean little snicker about a Piper knockoff and doesn't say anything, just swallows.

There's a dull clanking outside the window, and in a moment a bedraggled figure in a black hood starts struggling in. Trish hears a pointed throat-clearing next to her ear.

"You don't want him to slip."

Houston reaches out hesitantly and the man grabs his wrist and hauls himself in, leans against the wall. He's moving like he's drunk or sick. Trish can see a grin from the corner of her eye.

"Pipes. Pipes, _look_."

"Yes, congratulations, you haven't shot a hostage," the man says hoarsely.

"They're not hostages," Axel says. "Someone needs to _know_ about it before you have hostages."

"I'm fairly certain he knows you're holding her at gunpoint--"

"Yeah, but there aren't, like, _demands_ \--"

"--enforcing behaviour--"

"--more of a home invasion--"

"--god _dam_ mit, Axel--"

"-- _you're_ the one all picky about details--"

"--just think if you--" The man leaning against the wall takes a step forward and staggers.

" _Piper!_ "

Houston catches the Piper's arm before he falls.

"Piper," Axel says again, anxiously.

"It's wearing off."

"Okay." Axel's quiet for a second, as the Pied Piper straightens up. He keeps his head down and his hood forward, but Trish can see he looks really pale under it all. "Okay," Axel says again, more cheerfully. "You see what I found, Pipes?"

"Yes, hosta--" The Piper catches himself. "Captives."

"No, _look_." The gun stops pressing into the side of her throat, points towards Houston and then back at her. "I picked the apartment 'cause the stickers on the mailbox were cool, but I come in here and-- look at her, she's trying. And he was wearing these, doesn't really need 'em. Maybe for reading." He tosses Houston's glasses onto the table and this means that he technically isn't restraining Trish anymore but she still doesn't move. "They're _fans_."

The Piper stays perfectly still for a moment, then pushes Houston's hand away. "Fantastic."


	2. Chapter 2

"We'll get a car," Axel is saying, "and one of 'em can drive." He's grinning at Trish, not standing so close that the spikes on his coat hurt. His left arm is draped over her left shoulder. Houston's in the corner next to the kitchen. She wants to move over there but when she took a step towards him Axel pulled her back with a quiet _ah-ah-ah_ , like correcting a puppy, and that was that.

Houston is staring at the table, mostly. Sometimes he looks at her and then looks down again.

The Piper's sitting at the table, bent over with his head down. He wheezes a little if he moves too much or too fast, and when he does Axel goes quiet and watches him until he stops. Trish isn't sure why the Piper isn't okay and Axel is. There are a bunch of things it could be, but theorizing doesn't feel fun right now.

"I think you may be overestimating," the Pied Piper says, "the typical extent of fannish devotion."

Axel laughs like the Piper's actually being funny. Everyone knows how he got into being the Trickster, and yes Trish would call herself a fan, but she doesn't think of that as covering _explosives_. If he starts asking for something like that--

"I've got this, Pipes. They'll help, and I'll get you home." Axel flicks Trish's earring for attention and when she looks up at him he's grinning. "You're not gonna try to hurt me, right?"

Trish opens her mouth. Obviously it's true, but she suddenly can't tell if it's true because it would be a very stupid idea or because it's Axel Walker and she's worried that it matters which one it is and if it's the wrong one what if he _cares_ that it's the wrong one and--

His eyes are narrowing behind his mask. " _Right?_ "

"Axel," the Piper says, loud enough that he has to stop and wheeze after, and Axel stops looking at her to watch him. "Too much," he adds when he catches his breath. "You're giving her stage fright."

Axel's mouth is curling in disdain, that is so very not good. Trish looks at Houston again, and he's staring at the gun, and his hands are curling into fists. She stares at him and thinks _no_ very hard.

"I was fine when I met Jesse," Axel says, but he's only talking to the Piper, not to either of them.

"You knew you were meeting him." Trish can hear the Piper's breathing, slow and raspy. "Wrote him. Got answers." He pauses and Axel nods. "If he'd just shown up, surprised you, no reaching out..."

Axel makes a humming noise, and then the sneer is gone and he's back to smiling. "Fair," he says, and pets Trish's hair. "Smile, Trixie. It's gonna be fine."

He keeps looking at her, and cocks his head a little to one side when she doesn't do or say anything, and his grin widens in a way that she'd much rather be seeing on a screen and she's smiling back, very wide. Making a funny sort of hiccuping noise that could be laughing or could just be nerves, but he seems pleased.

"Good," he says, and then looks back to the Piper. "You just gotta wait a little, Pipes. You know I wouldn't ask you that without a reason."

"Waiting won't make Eiling wander off." It's a name they've mentioned already. Trish can't place it, and Axel still has their phones so she can't look it up. She looks at Houston, smile still tacked to her face, but he just gives a little headshake and right now she can't tell if it means _don't know_ or _doesn't matter_.

"Combines have a home game tonight." Axel's sounding pleased. "Bunch of people going out, lots of cars on the street. Flash'll be at least as sick as you until it all wears off. That much traffic, some nobody for a driver, we'll be okay." He points the gun at Houston. "You can drive, right, Glasses? Got a car? Be useful."

"Yes." Houston sounds shaky. "I mean, yes we have a car and yes, I c--"

"I'm a better driver," Trish says, and that's how she finds out that she's sounding shaky too.

"Sure," Axel says cheerfully, "but he tries to get between you and a gun, Trixie, so bet he'll behave real well when I'm holding onto you. Besides, we've got a _rapport_." He looks at the Piper. "See, _that's_ a hostage thing. The driving. Anything you wanna add?"

The Piper just shakes his head, and Axel's face falls a little.

"Come on, Pipes," he says, coaxing.

The Piper shakes his head again, and puts one hand on his forehead, still bent over in the chair. "How long?"

Axel perks up again. "Hour and a half, maybe. You're gonna be good for that, and we'll be okay." He doesn't say it like a question but his grin widens when the Piper nods.

"Oh good, more time together," Houston says, low and bitter, and Trish shoots him a horrified look. Axel rolls his head to look at Houston but doesn't look mad, exactly.

"See, Pipes? He's totally your type." He laughs and gestures with the gun towards Trish. "I like mine better. Let's get you some food, it'll help."

Axel puts in the order from Trish's phone. Everyone knows about calling 911 and pretending to order a pizza, so she's not surprised he does it himself. Anyway he just uses the app, and you can't secretly dial anyone from an app, although you could maybe text if someone wasn't watching your screen, but who'd believe you?

"Here soon," he says cheerfully, and then holds up the phone and snaps a picture of the two of them. She remembers to smile. It's not that she doesn't _want_ to smile, it's just that--

Maybe this is what it's like to be in the tiger cage at the zoo, while the tiger's happy to see you. Tigers are _gorgeous_. And even if one's taken a couple of swipes at people, if it's never really _tried_ to kill them, if it's decided it likes you, you're probably going to leave the cage. Or stay in the cage while it leaves, either is fine.

She startles a little when Axel pulls one of her earrings out--it doesn't hurt, there's no backing on the hook--and starts turning it over, looking at the bullet casing. He's saying something, but Houston is staring again, quiet and angry, and Trish is trying to think _no_ at him again.

"Hey, I said--" Axel catches where she's looking and glances at him and looks almost interested, and then hands her back the earring and drapes his right arm around her shoulders. The gun is in his right hand, and she thinks she can smell it, something like nail polish and oil.

"I said where'd you get it?" and he doesn't sound pointed at all, and she actually manages to come up with more than a one-word response.

(She's glad that the person who makes them is kind of local because she can't imagine needing to say "Etsy" to Axel Walker.)

It occurs to Trish while Axel is talking to her that Houston has never really been a cat person, which is funny given the tiger thing she was thinking of earlier, and that makes her giggle a little. But it's at kind of the right time in the conversation.

She's starting to figure that it'll be okay.

Houston is very careful when the delivery guy comes to the door; stands where Trish and presumably Axel can see him, doesn't let the guy in, pays and takes the food and shuts the door and even, when Axel makes a warning little clicking noise, stops to lock the door again. He sets the food on the table and starts towards the kitchen, and Axel stretches the gun out towards him. "Where you going, Glasses?"

"Just to get plates," Houston says quietly.

Axel laughs a little. "Bring him a glass of water while you're at it," he says and then turns back to Trish, lowers the gun.

Houston puts down a glass of water and a handful of cutlery next to Piper, and then starts moving around the table, stack of plates in his hands. Axel is telling Trish something about Eiling (which is a name she _still_ can't place) and by the patter of his voice she can tell he thinks it's funny so she's smiling but she can't actually make sense of--

and then it happens very fast, Axel's out of her line of sight and the stack of plates Houston was trying to hit him with is crashing into her shoulder and dropping all over the floor, and Axel's snarling. She takes a step back because she's losing her balance and also she would back away from _anything_ snarling like that, the noise is--

Axel comes back from his dodge, tackles Houston and drags him down. The Piper doesn't look like he could do anything and Axel's faster than either of them but two on one and Houston's going to get hurt but Axel's got-- no, he _doesn't_ have a gun, he must have dropped it and she picks it up-- Houston makes a barking noise like he's forgotten how to breathe and Axel is banging his head into the floor, once and yanks it back up to do it again--

"Houston," but so thin she can barely hear herself.

" _ **Axel!**_ "

The Piper's voice makes her teeth clack together. She doesn't turn to look at him but Axel does.

"What's your problem, Pipes?"

The Piper points at Houston. "You said he's mine."

Axel makes a low mewling grumble, like a cat getting ready to fight. "Doesn't really count, Pipes. Look at him, not even watching you, he's watching _me_. Look at him look." Hands locked around Houston's head, thumbs pressing in just under his eyes. Arched like they're going to start digging.

Everything looks very far away and is getting very bright.

"Well," the Piper says, "isn't that exactly what I'd be doing?"

There's a pause, and then Axel laughs and sits back, tweaks Houston's nose as he takes his hands away and bounces back to his feet.

"Fine," he says. "He's yours. Mine's cooler."

Trish can't look away from Houston, who is still lying there with his eyes actually in his head. Faintly, she can hear the Piper saying something, on the general theme of no-one wanting anyone to get shot and the benefits of not being annoying. It isn't really sinking in. She's still feeling light-headed.

No-one is _screaming_ and that is such a relief she thinks she might cry. She has heard Houston scream in pain exactly once, when he went to push aside a pot while he was making dinner and forgot that he'd already turned the burner on, and she never wants to hear it again.

Axel drops one arm around her shoulders, and she jumps.

"Gimme," he says, holding out his free hand, and Trish realizes she's holding the gun. Not to shoot it, she picked it up like a dropped remote, but she could. If she put her finger on the trigger. If it's working. She has no idea how to tell if the safety is on or not, and she hasn't even _hit_ anyone since eleventh grade, not _really_ , she doesn't know how to--

Axel Walker is standing _right there_.

"Trixie."

He says it almost gently. Very patient.

Trish closes her eyes and hands over the gun.


	3. Chapter 3

The streetlight near the parking around back is lit up, but it mostly just turns the fog into a kind of grey glow. There shouldn't even _be_ fog, not with just enough thin misty rain that the streets are starting to glisten and flash back taillights. It's weird weather, turning people into filtered shapes, cars into blocks of shadow with gleaming eyes. Trish has seen something like it in the early morning a few times, but never at night.

Axel said something to the Piper about Sparky feeling better. He's got his arm around Trish's shoulder, still, and stops behind the car. "Pop the trunk."

"There's room in the back seat--" the Piper starts, but Axel's already shaking his head.

"People know me better'n you, Pipes. Even if I ditch the mask. All those mugshots. You just got the Pipeline special." He grins and the Piper gives a bitter-sounding cough. "And Glasses there would try something else stupid if he thought he had the chance. So we're gonna be in the trunk where if you do get held up no-one sees me, and you keep him thinking about what happens to people in the trunk if he doesn't drive safe, okay?"

"Axel."

"Pipes." He keeps the hand with the gun around Trish's shoulder, but he reaches out to touch the side of the Piper's face, under the hood. "You sit with your boy. He'll listen to you, maybe. And we--" he hugs Trish a little-- "are gonna keep our heads down."

Houston's looking at the Piper with wet, desperate eyes.

"Alright," the Piper says after a moment. He shakes his head once, sharply, at the little groans. "Let's get this over with."

Axel giggles and pulls his hand back, but the Piper catches his wrist.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Just shooting," Axel says, grinning, and then when the Piper doesn't say anything his smile softens a little. "Pipes, I promise. It'll be okay."

The Piper nods and lets go of Axel's wrist. Axel nudges Trish's face with his own. "C'mon, Trixie," he says, cheerfully, as Houston opens the trunk of the car. "Let's get going."

He holds her hand for balance as she steps into the trunk, like he's helping her up onto a stepstool.

Of course then she has to lie down and it smells of old gas and crumbling rubber carpet backing and dust. Axel grins over at Houston.

"Hey, Glasses," he says. "In case you're one of those outta sight, outta mind guys--you mess this up and get my boy caught, I've got more than one bullet in this thing. And they _will_ go through a couple of car seats and still have enough pop to make it right through you, follow me?"

Then he steps over Trish, kneels down and squirms around and puts his left arm across her, like they're spooning. The edge of the gun barrel is digging into her right shoulder.

The Piper reaches for the edge of the trunk lid, holds it for a minute while he's looking down at them.

"See you on the other side, Pipes."

The Piper looks over the two of them and shakes his head, mutters _fantastic_ and closes the lid.

* * *

Her teeth keep clicking together. The car's old, and she knows it could use new shocks, but she hadn't realized how much of a difference the seats actually made. Plus the gears are grinding badly enough that she can't stop wincing.

Axel notices it too.

"Your boyfriend's no good at driving stick, huh?" he says after the car actually stalls for a second and there's the soft blat of a horn coming through the trunk. Trish doesn't know what to say, and doesn't say anything.

Houston gets the car moving again, and then there's another jolt and that time the gun barrel digs into the back of her neck and she's _trying_ not to scream but there's this thin high sound--

Axel's got the hand that was around her waist over her mouth and is hissing _shut it shut it shut it_ in her ear and she doesn't pass out but things go fuzzy for a minute and then she's breathing in, hiccupping air, but the noise has stopped. It wasn't much, anyway. A squeak.

"I know," he says in her ear. "Shh, Trixie, I know. First time you think you're gonna get shot, it's scary, right?"

He doesn't say anything after that, actually seems to be waiting for an answer, and she nods.

"Okay." She feels his weight shift and the gun barrel drag through her hair as he pulls back a bit, still has a hand over her mouth. "Trixie, since your boyfriend isn't standing right here looking like he wants to kill someone, I'm gonna put the safety on. You believe me that I can get it back off again fast enough to ruin your day if I need to?"

Nodding again. There's a clicking noise and her heart crawls into her mouth for a second, but nothing happens and she breathes out.

"You gonna scream if I take my hand away?"

Trish shakes her head. Axel moves his hand back down to rest on her side, and she stays still and quiet like she woke up at 3 a.m. and she's trying to figure out if it was because there's someone else in the apartment.

There's another jolt, enough to clack teeth, and Axel sniffs in disdain. "Shit driver."

"He's nervous." Houston _can't_ be a bad driver right now, she needs him not to be.

Axel laughs a little, tittering-soft. "Fair." There's a beat of silence and then "If you need to move, tell me, okay?"

"Okay...?"

"The exhaust's gonna get hot," he says. "You won't burn too bad, but..." She doesn't say anything, and he laughs again. "First time in the trunk of a car, too? Jeez, Trixie, you are _new_ to this."

She nods.

They lie there for a minute, bumping along in the trunk. Trish doesn't know how far they've gone and doesn't, she realizes, know where they're going either. Probably the Pied Piper is giving Houston directions.

"So, like..." Axel goes quiet again and Trish doesn't say anything. His fingers are drumming on her side, but she doesn't think it means anything. "Is he nice?"

The trunk is dry and gritty and getting uncomfortably warm, and she licks her lips before answering. "Who?"

"Your Piper." He shrugs. "Back at your place-- you know. He'd glare like he wanted to hit something, and you..." He pokes at her shoulder, quick little series of rolling taps. "All tense. Like you were worried. So. Your guy, is he nice? Mine..." Axel's fingers go still for a minute and he giggles. "He nearly killed me once, you know?"

There's another pause and Trish swallows. "No?"

"You didn't know," he says, "or yours isn't nice? 'cause usually it's not my business, right, but if he's mean to you and you don't wanna deal, just say the word."

"...what?"

"I can do it quick," he assures her. "If you want." He laughs a little and cards his hand through her hair. "I'm not saying you _need_ me to, just, if you're feeling soft or want an alibi--"

"Don't _touch_ him." Still a whisper but her voice cracks and she sounds like she's going to either cry or scream, and he chuckles like she's done something clever.

"My _girl_ ," he says appreciatively. "Okay. He's all yours."

"He's not..." Trish swallows. "I don't need to do anything. He's good."

Axel makes a pleased noise, like someone watching otters on YouTube. "'s cool. That sounds fun." He's still petting at her hair, a soft tugging feeling, and it's weird but Trish decides it's not so bad that she can't stand it for another--

Another however long. It won't be too long. He'll want to get the Pied Piper somewhere and not have to deal with hostages. And the Rogues don't _kill_ people, mostly, really.

"Are we gonna be okay?" She means her and Houston.

"Sure. Yours is nice, and mine is smart. He'll get us out, and yours'll go along. Right?" She nods. "See? It's gonna be fine." He doesn't sound worried, and maybe he wouldn't anyway but it's something. "And if it isn't, it'll happen _really_ fast, okay?"

Trish closes her eyes and pretends it's already over.


	4. Chapter 4

Houston opens the trunk when they stop. It isn't raining anymore, or it isn't raining where they are. Axel is over her and out before Trish is properly sitting up, and Houston is very sensibly backing away with his hands held up at shoulder-height. It's cold and dark, little stabs of sodium-orange streetlight between empty brick buildings and scrubby weeds poking up around their edges. It's not a part of town she knows.

"Alright," Axel says, snapping his fingers at Houston. "Keys."

"We need--"

"Do not even start with me, Glasses."

Houston hands the car keys over. Axel shoves them in his pocket and holds one hand out to Trish, which is nice because it's awkward stepping down out of a car trunk in a skirt. But he's looking around at the side of the car, not really at her at all. The front passenger-side door is open and the Piper is sitting in the passenger seat, feet on the road and head down.

"You good, Pipes?" Axel says, closing the trunk.

The Piper waves one hand tiredly. "Words of our leader--"

"Peachy," they chorus, and Axel cackles.

"Alright," he says. "Lemme get you the rest of the way home, Pipes."

Trish looks at Houston. He's taking a deep breath and she's pretty sure he's going to start saying something and before he can she says "What about us?"

Axel looks at her, head tilted to the side. "Told you it was gonna be fine, Trixie."

"We're--" _in the middle of nowhere_ is not useful. "Where _are_ we?"

"Used to be offices for the old train yard," Axel says. He points down the road. "Keystone's back that way, you wanna get walking. Or they've got a security guard comes around here at midnight." He grins. "Most nights."

She doesn't know what to say to that.

Houston clears his throat. "Can we have our phones back?"

"Get new ones, Glasses." Axel opens the driver's side door and starts getting in, and Trish is trying to think of what to say. _Please don't go_ is not coming out of her mouth, but it's the middle of nowhere and Axel just pointing was not exactly a very useful set of directions and she has no idea how far away anything is and she's still in just a T-shirt and skirt and it's getting cold and--

"What about my picture?"

Axel looks at her and blinks. She hears Houston catch his breath, but doesn't look at him right now.

"You took that picture with me," she says, taking a step forward. She's starting to shiver a little; it's cool and it's damp and she's had a _really_ long night. "After you called for food, you-- I need my phone back. For the picture, right? You're going to let me keep that, aren't you?"

There's a pause and then Axel grins.

"You wait here," he says. "We'll let the cops know where you are in half an hour. We'll leave your phones in the car. They'll find it, you can get 'em back then."

"It's cold out here--" and Axel shakes his head.

"Half an hour," he says again. "You can stand that for me, right?" He starts the car as the Piper pulls himself shakily back inside the passenger seat, closes the door and rolls down the windows.

"Glasses," he says, pointing at Houston. "You're lucky. I don't get it, but you are. And _you_ , Trixie--" He laughs. "Drop me a line if he ever quits being nice. I won't be mad."

The engine shrieks as he pulls away, and she can still hear him laughing. Trish and Houston stand there until the taillights disappear, and there's nothing around them but empty buildings and little orange pinpoints of light holding the shadows in place.

Something starts offering an opinion to the night. Trish thinks it's a cricket. It's a night sound, at any rate.

"What was he talking about?" Houston says finally.

Trish shakes her head and wraps her arms around herself instead of answering, and closes her eyes to wait for someone to come and get them.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was a short, weird, somewhat unhappy ride.
> 
> Houston's name was a placeholder as I was struggling with this, and then I just couldn't find anything else I really wanted to change it to. The title, oddly, is from "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" which was stuck in my head for the first chapter. Old song. Not even one of my favourites, but heck, titles are murderously hard for me and it was something to go with.


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